There was a time when footballers reached the age of 30 and they were written off completely, however, with greater professionalism, sports science and sports medicine, there is no reason why a dedicated professional, who has managed to avoid serious injuries, can’t go on until their late 30s, for keepers, even older.
On Saturday, most Rangers fans would have thought that it was the last time we were going to see Steven Davis and when Allan McGregor came on for Jon McLaughlin in the 119th minute, there was a unanimous realisation that this was his swan song – well, apparently not.
A report in The Daily Record has claimed that Davis, McGregor and Leon Balogun are all set for contract talks, this in itself is nothing new because veterans like this are only ever awarded one-year deals and decisions are left until the end of the season, as in the case of Scott Arfield.
There is no doubting that they are all good players and capable of contributing but they – except maybe Balogun – would have to take serious wage cuts to have their extensions justified, if we are to move forwards we simply can’t have a 41-year old goalkeeper and 38-year old midfielder in the team with both Arfield and Balogun heading towards 34, they are good players but they aren’t that good and can’t possibly be expected to play 50-60 games.
Being self sufficient depends on being able to find players at the right price, develop them and then sell them at a profit, if we continue to block the pathways of younger players by padding the squad with players in their mid-thirties and older, what chance have we got and why would the likes of Charlie McCann sign new deals?
Then there is the financial cost, for all that they might get new deals on reduced wages, they will still be on decent money, money that could be better served bringing in new players or being reallocated to key players to persuade them to stay, in short, we don’t need Davis and McGregor any more.
It’s not easy saying goodbye to club legends but the alternative is watching them depreciate even further in front of our own eyes, unable to reach standards that they once found as their norm.